Vital Statistics:
| Last | Change | |
| S&P futures | 3221 | -4.25 |
| Oil (WTI) | 61.17 | -0.44 |
| 10 year government bond yield | 1.90% | |
| 30 year fixed rate mortgage | 3.95% |
Stocks are lower as we put 2019 into the books. Bonds and MBS are up.
The bond markets close at 2:00 pm this afternoon. Most warehouse banks will stop doing wires at that time.
It looks like we have a trade deal with China, which should take trade off the front burner for a while.
Pending home sales increased 1.2% in November, according to NAR. “Despite the insufficient level of inventory, pending home contracts still increased in November,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, noting that housing inventory has been in decline for six straight months dating back to June 2019. “The favorable conditions are expected throughout 2020 as well, but supply is not yet meeting the healthy demand.”
House prices rose 0.2% MOM and 5% YOY according to the FHFA House Price Index. Separately, the Case-Shiller index rose 0.4% MOM and 2.2% YOY.
Wishing you all a prosperous new year. Here is to the roaring 20s
Filed under: Economy, Morning Report |
All Things in Moderation 
Live long and prosper, y’all.
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Thanks Mark. You too!
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Thanks Mark. Happy New Year.
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Happy Mew Year!
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Rise of Skywalker was fine. My 10 year old loved it. and it’s been fun to watch these with him.
Happy New Year, everyone.
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I’m a little late to the party, nothing new there, but Happy New Year everyone! Hope we all have an amazing 2020. No resolutions here for me to fail but I am hoping to keep my physical activities going strong into the next decade……LOL
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Glad to see you check in and that everything is going OK.
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Hi Lms!
Great to hear from you! Happy New Year!!
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Happy New Year, LM!
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Something off the beaten path that looks ripe for antitrust enforcement:
“But I’m not a lawyer. I’m an agent.”
https://davidsimon.com/but-im-not-a-lawyer-im-an-agent/
“Big agencies and studios have a lock on Hollywood. It’s high time to apply antitrust law.
By Steven Pearlstein”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/big-agencies-and-studios-have-a-lock-on-hollywood-its-high-time-to-apply-antitrust-law/2019/09/06/7337cfca-ce6f-11e9-8c1c-7c8ee785b855_story.html
If Trump was smart, he’d go after it. Instead it looks like he’s on the side of the agents.
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/trumps-doj-picks-side-hollywoods-writers-agents-war-1258214
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That and any Federal tax breaks for the entertainment industry.
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I always though Trump should have told the Chinese we will turn a blind eye to media pirating in exchange for a whole laundry list of manufacturing concessions.
If Hollywood wants to be the Resistance, then
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NoVA, I presume you are familiar with this.
“The one surprising thing the Trump administration got right on health care
By Steven Pearlstein
Dec. 5, 2019 at 2:51 p.m. EST”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/the-one-surprising-thing-the-trump-administration-got-right-on-health-care/2019/12/05/99204c10-15ed-11ea-a659-7d69641c6ff7_story.html
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very much so.
the idea that you can compel disclosure of negotiated rates is pretty bold.
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I work in Pharma and manufacturers would actually like that. Negotiated rate info in pharma leak almost instantly, it’s just not on the public radar.
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This could be interesting if true.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/
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Your link just goes to the home page.
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Well shit! It was a link to a story about offing Qassem Suleiman.
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